This invention relates to rain gutters of the type that capture the rain falling on a roof that flows down to the eave of the roof, and is more particularly concerned with a sheet metal rain gutter that can be effectively employed on the eave of a tin roof, as well as roofs covered with other types of roofing material. The invention is also concerned with rain gutters which can be fastened directly onto the roof at the eave without additional brackets and without requiring the eave to have a fascia board at the eave.
A need has long existed for a convenient, simple rain gutter system that can be employed with so-called tin roof installations, that is, roofs in which the roofing material is sheet metal and which may have vertical ribs, such as ribs that extend from the eave to the ridge or top of the roof, and which are spaced laterally at some interval. Typically the ribs are about ¾ inch high and spaced about 9 inches apart, although this spacing is not critical. Few existing rain gutter designs can be easily installed on a roof of this type, and these typically require special bracketing and need openings for rainwater punched or drilled into them. The rain gutters should also have a cover that keeps leaves, pine needles and other debris from falling into the rainwater channel of the gutter and clogging the gutters, and should have a simple way of attaching down spouts and a simple way of closing off the ends of the rain gutter members.